Purim 5776 Arrives, Filled With Mitzvahs, Celebrations and Joy

As Brussels grapples with the aftermath of terror attacks in a world still replete with its Hamans, Jews the world over are preparing for Purim. The holiday is celebrated on the 14th of Adar, which this year corresponds to Wednesday night into Thursday, lasting until sundown.

In many of the thousands of celebrations taking place at Chabad-Lubavitch centers around the world, the themes are decidedly international in flavor, with Chabad of Central Switzerland holding “Purim in Italy.” Then there is “Purim in Paris,” “Purim in Mexico,” “Purim in Morocco,” “Purim in the Orient”—this list goes on, offering a world of travel as close as the nearest Chabad House.

Rabbi Levi Ezagui and his wife, Tzivya, co-directors of Chabad of Palm Coast in Florida, are getting ready for the Chabad’s very first Purim party on Wednesday night. The couple and their 10-month old daughter, Batsheva, moved to Florida this past summer from New York City. Now, they’re revving up for a celebration with a theme from the other side of the United States: “Purim in the Wild West.”

They have rented out an event space, and are looking forward to welcoming some 100 to 150 guests through their “saloon” doors for a Megillah reading, Tex-Mex food and good old-fashioned fun.

The ranch-like setting will feature real haystacks and a Western photo area, complete with props and barn backdrop. The meal will also be reminiscent of the West, with chicken drumsticks, beans and corn muffins, taco salad and apple crisp, reports Levi Ezagui. Add to that face-painting, arts-and-crafts for children, mask-making and authentic music—Jewish singers with a Western twist, says the rabbi—piped in from his own iPod through speakers.

“We want everyone to know that we’re here,” says Ezagui. “People can come and enjoy the holiday, and listen to the Megillah with us here in Palm Coast.”

Chabad of Central Switzerland is going Italian this year.

Palm Coast is a sizable city of about 75,000 situated along Florida’s northern East Coast, about an hour from Jacksonville. It’s a good three to four hours from the bulk of the Florida Jewish community in places like Boca Raton, Hollywood and Miami.

This year is also a Hakhel year, which puts an even greater focus on Jewish unity. In Hakhel years past, the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—would urge Jews worldwide to assemble, and inspire one another to increase in Torah observance and study.

“Jews coming together is always a good thing,” says Ezagui. “And it’s especially meaningful when that occurs on Purim and during a Hakhel year, a once-every-seven-years’ celebration of Jewish unity.”

‘The Excitement Within Us’

A few hours away—on the other side of the state below Tampa—Rabbi Mendy Bukiet, co-director of the Chabad of Bradenton in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., with his wife, Chana, is getting ready for a roster of events that includes a Wednesday-night “Purim in the Sixties” event, followed by a “Purim Italiano” on Thursday. On Wednesday, the room will be decorated to feel “groovy,” according to the rabbi, for the Megillah reading and festive meal. Then, everything will switch to good old-fashioned spaghetti-and-meatballs (with an array of sauces and other Italian fare), and an auction where participants can bid on prizes using boxes of dried pasta after answering questions about Jews and Italy.

The rabbi plans to don gondolier gear, while his seven sons, who range in age from age 2 to 14, will be dressed as pizza chefs.

Rabbi Mendy and Chana Bukiet, co-directors of Chabad of Bradenton in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., at a prior “Purim Under the Sea” event.

Part of the Italian-themed fun also includes a children’s program where the little ones, with bags on their feet, will be able to stomp grapes into wine.

Chabad is expecting 80 or so people the first night at the Chabad House and about 130 the following night at an area community center. The Bukiets will also host a Purim party at a senior-living center on Thursday morning, where the rabbi will read the Megillah.

“The more we live Judaism, the more excitement there is within us,” he says. “When a person gets involved in the exhilarating aspects of Judaism, it automatically leads to all other aspects as well.”

Chabad focuses on helping everyone do all four mitzvahs of Purim: hearing the Megillat Esther, the story of the Jewish queen who risked her life in Persia two millennia ago for the sake of the Jewish people; sending gifts of food to friends and neighbors (mishloach manot); giving charity to the poor (matanot l’evyonim); and partaking in a festive meal (seudat Purim).

Many Chabad House will distribute food baskets to guests (either at parties or delivered beforehand), or food gifts will be available at events so that participants can hand them out them to others. Charity boxes will be stationed at events, with donations going to help the poor.

In Jerusalem and other ancient walled cities, Shushan Purim will celebrated from Thursday night through Friday, right up to Shabbat, and in Jerusalem there will be public Megillah readings in cafes, restaurants and on the street, night and day.

‘People Look Forward to Purim’

This rare Megillah scroll written on deerskin parchment will be used on Purim in Maryland. (See Related News story)

For Dassy Cotlar and her husband, Rabbi Lev Cotlar, at the Chabad Center of Raleigh, N.C., where they serve as educational directors at Congregation Sha’arei Israel Chabad Center there, they are organizing Purim parties for the 2-and-under crowd all the way up to celebrations for the entire community. Wednesday night will feature popcorn and cotton-candy machines set up in the synagogue’s social hall, where they expect more than 100 guests for a Megillah reading and family celebration.

An early-morning Megillah reading will be available on Thursday for people headed to work. Later in the day comes a reading for preschoolers and parents, a program for Hebrew school-aged children and a Purim dinner for families. The theme this year is focused on Africa, says Dassy Cotlar, featuring hair-braiding, face-painting and a South African food buffet. As for decorations, prepare for a jungle motif, complete with a 7-foot-high giraffe. An African band will play during dinner, followed by drum circle.

The Cotlars work on all this with Chabad co-directors Rabbi Pinchas and Helana Herman.

“Purim dinner is always a ton of fun,” says Dassy Cotlar. “We always highlight different countries. We did Mexico, China, India—and a lot of people come dressed in the appropriate garb.”

They’ll start setting up on Thursday for the big meal—they expect about 100—with the help of a local mother and her three teenage boys who volunteer. “Many of the families, no matter their ages, want to be involved in Purim,” she says, helping out in ways they can. “People look forward to Purim, especially the kids; they’ll talk about Purim weeks in advance—what they’re going to dress up as and the dinner.”

Chana Cotlar, 5, in her giraffe costume for a “Purim in Africa” theme at the Chabad Center of Raleigh, N.C. (her younger brothers will be dressed as a lion and a tiger).

With this being a Hakhel year, her own three young children will be doing some extra connecting with the children of fellow Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries in North Carolina, particularly in the Research Triangle Park of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. They are exchanging gifts with kids in other nearby Chabad Houses, with many planning to meet the Sunday after the holiday for an informal gathering.

Meanwhile, the family is getting down to business and getting their costumes in order. “The kids are going to be African animals—we have a lion, a giraffe and a tiger,” says Cotlar. “My husband and I rented African robes with this big turban.”

‘Out of the Woodwork’

Rabbi Eliezer Zalmanov, co-director of Chabad of Northwest Indiana in Munster, Ind., with his wife, Chanie, is looking forward to “Purim in India,” with the spices of Indian cooking, colorful decorations and for entertainment, a juggler.

They’ll be setting lanterns on the tables at the local Jewish Federation building for the 50 to 75 guests they expect this year.

It is likely to be a smaller crowd than their usual 100 to 150 because of Purim falling during spring break this year, he notes, but that won’t affect the scope of the festivities. “Whoever’s here usually joins us,” says Zalmanov of a community that is a mix of seniors, young adults and families with kids.

“The holiday brings people out of the woodwork,” adds the rabbi. “We attract people from the entire community, not just the regulars at Chabad. That’s the beauty of Purim—everyone comes and has a good time.”